Nebraska Season Rests on Taylor Martinez

The position of quarterback at Nebraska is the most scrutinized area of all, and Taylor Martinez cannot hide from this limelight. Husker fans may not fully understand the pressure the attention brings from both media analysis, editorial opinions, and fan criticism. Even after the locals decide to provide their input (either positive or negative), Martinez often draws positive comments on a national scale for his athletic ability.

Athlon Sports has him as the #18 QB entering into 2012. If he has really put in the work this offseason, it could make a huge difference in the outcome of the year. Based on these efforts, Bo Pelini thinks his best football is ahead of him. Footwork, delivery, film study: this extra work is likely to pay off in some ways this year through better reads and decision making. If these improvements bear fruit, it would be the main reason the Huskers could lead the conference in offensive numbers.

What should be expected of Martinez and potential improvements this year? Whatever improvements occur in the passing game need to be accentuated by his running skills. Without the continued threat that he takes those unhindered three or four steps up to his full straight line speed, his passing game will not see improvements as teams will key in on coverage rather than contain. Making defenses decide how they should deal with a quarterback is what makes dual threat QB's so dangerous in college football.

Behind Martinez, http://bigrednetwork.com/story/buzz_who_backs_up_martinez/" target="_blank">there is a battle for who plays in mop-up duty. While Tommy Armstrong, Jr. has had a number of positive comments coming out of fall practices, Brion Carnes and Ron Kellogg III have the seniority. Burning a redshirt on a potential multi year player like Armstrong could be a waste. It remains to be seen if any backup would be able to lead the team to a divisional title if Martinez is unable to play for any reason. Backup play experience will really only be valuable if there are plenty of snaps in the fourth quarter of a runaway victory. At this point, only Martinez is capable of delivering the wins needed for a title.

Get Husker News in Your Inbox

Email:

About one email per week. We won't share your address with anyone. Ever.

The offense should continue to pile up rushing numbers, if they manage to make a 10-15% improvement in the passing game it could go a long way to making Martinez one of the top producers in the nation. Based on yards/game he was the 58th most prolific offensive player in the country (227 y/g). But he would need to average at least 100 more per game to get near the top 10.

Martinez will have to improve his passing numbers for sure because I believe the offense will pass more and run less than they have before under Martinez. This is if Nebraska is going to match their win total from last year.
I also believe that Burkhead will at least get the numbers from last year because Pelini has already made it known that Martinez has worked the kinks out over the off-season thus taking the pressure off of Burkhead when teams would normally stack the line against the run.
Expect more passing from this offense and it will start early and often.

Martinez is just one person who needs to step it up. It doesn’t just hinge on him. Everyone has to play better. This is an important season for us. We need to show that we’ve broken out of the cycle of losing to every BCS-caliber team and losing to an unranked team at home. In essence, we need progress, even if it is not overwhelming, but we need to show that we are moving forward. . .

JerseyHusker
8/24/2012

You’re right James, it does have to be a whole team effort. If a “team” feels they can only win with one player then they are surely doomed.
I do think that Bo & Co have the best team of his tenure on both sides of the ball. A full year of Becks offense, more coaching on the o line, depth at skill positions. Solid respected teaching coaches on defense, at least 2 solid nfl caliber players and again solid depth throughout.
If this team fails to at least compete for the conference championship this year I will be both surprised and disappointed. Now let’s get this thing started already!! GBR!!

HuskerExile
8/24/2012

QB is the most scrutinized position for nearly every team in all of football. Although Taylor will play a big part in this teams success or failure, it is most definitely not all on his shoulders. There are several areas that have to improve from 2011 in order to compete for a conference title. Will the O line cut down on drive killing penalties and blown assignments? Will the receivers catch the ball? Will the offense as a whole reduce its turnovers? The defense has alot to improve upon from last year aswell. This season rests on the coaching staff and every single player that sets foot on the field. I get the feeling its gonna be a good year. GBR!!!

I hope all of u are right but i c a very dissapointing season. Taloy is not a Qb at any leval. Put Burkhead in as Qb and use Talor as a wide out or i back and us the wildcat and have a short passing game cause all of the recevers have problems catching the long ball. Burkhead is the leader of that team and the only guy that plays with heart and true husker passion. He reminds me of Scott Frost. If we had 11 other staters on the offence like that then the skers would be great, but they dont. I predict the skers will b at 5 loses before going to another bowl game nobody cares about and the down fall of bo

This is year 3 of the Taylor Martinez experiment. I think he will perform admirably. However, if he goes down with an injury early, mid, or late season…...........Who will take over the QB postion then? Tommy Armstrong, Brion Carnes, or Ron Kellogg?????

The Huskers will finish 10-2/9-3 this year ASSUMING Taylor Martinez stays healthy…...........We lose @ Ohio St. and @ Michigan St. We’ve always been weak on the road during the regular season/conference schedule AND we always lose a game we should’ve won under Pelini in October or November (i.e. Northwestern last year). The non-conference UCLA game is scary as well (Remember 1993 anybody???? 14-13).